


Hiding

by sylfukr69



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Cute, Everyone Is Gay, Fluff, Gay, Light Angst, M/M, Romantic Fluff, achilles possessed me while writing this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-26 20:34:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20395747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylfukr69/pseuds/sylfukr69
Summary: A lonely sleepless night turns into an adventure of love and hate between a house leader and his professor. After that,Claude seeks out the new professor's secrets. The hunter soon becomes the hunted however.





	1. A Field of Tiger Lillies

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is gonna get longer as my whole gay self thinks of more gay shit to write. shoutout to yurifucker for inspiring me to write at all.

A vicious storm was pounding on the eternal walls of Garreg Mach, and Byleth found it increasingly difficult to fall asleep. He decided to instead reach for a candle and work on grading his students’ latest tests, Byleth never liked inactivity. Mark after mark, Byleth made his way through a majority of the papers when a bright bolt of lightning crackled in the distance followed by a knock at his door. Now filled with shock as well as curiosity, he got up to see who else could be awake.

“Uhhh Teach? Were you.. sleeping? Did I wake you?” It was Claude of all people. Byleth didn’t know who to expect, but still. His words left an easy air between them. “You were the only one who I thought might be awake too.”

“No, you didn’t wake me Claude, the rain kept me up. Is there anything you needed?” Byleth could never stop acting professorly at any time of day. 

“Not particularly, if I wasn’t going to sleep I didn’t wanna stay awake alone. So I thought I might as well drop by to hang out with my favorite professor,” he confessed along with a wink, “Mind if I come in?” 

“Of course.” Byleth moved out of the way to let him in. They both sat themselves on Byleth’s bed facing each other. Sitting cross-legged, Claude propped is head on his hand and stared at Byleth like a hunter to his prey. He wanted to know everything about Byleth, and this was his _chance_. The two of them alone and unbothered. Byleth’s stony expression remaining unfazed by the intensity in Claude’s eyes. 

“So Teach, how old are you?”

“I don’t know, my father never kept track of that sort of thing and I never cared to know.”

“You don’t know your own age?.. Well, what about your life as a mercenary? Was your mom unhappy you grew up to follow in your father’s footsteps?” 

“Actually, I never knew my mother. She passed away shortly after I was born.” Byleth responded matter-of-factly. Claude was becoming increasingly frustrated now, and he couldn’t seem to get anything useful out of the conversation. The rain was letting up while they were talking, and light from the full moon broke through the clouds and onto Byleth’s face. Then Claude’s heart stopped. He bit his lip. A thought danced around his eyes. 

_“Have you ever had a girlfriend Teach?”_ Claude let out breathily. Byleth, taken aback, responded with “N-no I haven’t. But I’ve a few experiences kissing some girls I met while traveling for work. What about you Claude?” Byleth had never been so flustered in his life, even if that only meant a small stutter. A new eagerness crept onto Byleth’s face, and the air suddenly felt warm. 

With face alighted by candle and moonlight, Claude said, “I’ve had a few dates with girls around the monastery, but none have really struck me as interesting.” 

“So you’re saying you haven’t kissed anyone?” Byleth voiced while slowly returning Claude’s intense gaze, and Claude felt like he was finally cracking his professor’s mask.

“Yeah, that’s right. But I gotta say though, I’ve always wondered what it was like.” A fox-like smirk painted his face. 

“**Do you want to know**?” Something other than Sothis must’ve possessed him in that moment, for he did not know why that thought had been verbalized. Claude’s mouth opened in shock, the humid air leaving their breaths heavy. The silence of the night save an owl was ringing in his ears. 

“I…” Claude’s visage was now a meadow of roses. He wasn’t expecting a reaction like that from his professor, and he didn’t know how to react himself. Byleth put a hand in the space on the bed between them and leaned forward, waiting for Claude’s next action. Claude reached out his hand and placed it on top of Byleth’s, squeezing hard. He looked back up at Byleth’s face, ablaze with desire. 

“Teach…” Byleth brushed his remaining hand on Claude’s cheek and leaned closer. Noses touching, Byleth could hear Claude’s heartbeat. 

“Do you really want to?” He’d never felt vulnerable like this before. Claude had _always_ been the one in control, the one pulling the strings. But in this moment, Claude decided to give himself to the whims of his desire. 

Claude closed the distance between them and let go of Byleth’s hand, wrapping it around Byleth’s head and the other on his thigh. Claude almost believed in the goddess as Byleth’s lips mashed against his own. He moaned into Byleth’s mouth and rubbed his thigh harder. Then, Byleth pushed Claude back onto his bed, and straddled him. He put his elbows just outside Claude’s shoulders and played with his hair. They shared pure, gentle smiles.

Byleth nuzzled into the crook of Claude’s neck, and moaned, “Did you like it?” simultaneously sending shivers down Claude’s spine. Claude wrapped one hand around Byleth’s head and the other around his back, embracing his professor as he lay on top of him.

“Gonna be honest Teach, I almost passed out. I was seeing stars.” The kiss took a lot out of Claude, and with his professor on top of him, he didn’t want to go anywhere. “You mind if I sleep here tonight?”

“That’d be perfect,” Byleth agreed and pecked Claude on the cheek while rearranging the blankets on them. At some point, warm and happy, Byleth finally drifted off to sleep.


	2. Darkness in The Light

Light shone through the window glazed in water droplets, and upon Claude’s face as he lazily opened his eyes. He felt the professor still on top of him and hugged him tighter. He  _ really _ enjoyed this. The feeling of snuggling someone, and sleeping with them. Not even the sun could replace the warmth Claude now felt in his heart. He hummed into Byleth’s neck and gave him small kisses to wake him up.

Without opening his eyes Byleth replied, “Good morning to you too sunshine.” He wanted to get up and take a stroll around the monastery, but having Claude in bed was just too tempting. Like a bee to a flower, Byleth wanted to stay like this with Claude forever. He supposed though, he could walk  _ with _ Claude around the monastery. 

“Hey,” Byleth, finally opening his eyes, “how about we head down to the dining hall for breakfast and then go out for tea?” Claude had seemed to unlock something deep within Byleth.  Something primal, because Byleth was now beaming at Claude with a smile radiating divinity. The goddess herself must’ve blessed Byleth with perfection. The way his eyes were strong and fortuitous, yet gentle while gazing at Claude. They got out of bed and realized an immediate dilemma. Claude was in the professor’s quarters in his pajamas, and Claude’s quarters were on the next floor. 

“Hey Teach, you got any clothes I could wear? I can’t really go out in  _ this _ ,” shaking his head and giving Byleth an enthusiastic look. Byleth pondered for a moment, before looking through his luggage and finding old mercenary wear he still carried around. One glance at the rugged tatters that could barely be called clothing, Claude replied, “On second thought, I think I’ll try my chances and run up to my room to change before anyone sees me here,” Byleth, a bit dismissed, agreed to meet at the dining hall in a few minutes. 

Opening the door gently, Claude peeked around and saw no one save a few knights patrolling. “Hey Teach, I’m gonna break for it, I’ll see you later,” just then Claude zoomed out the door followed by a loud “ **HI HILDA BYE HILDA!** ” a few seconds later. Looking out the door in his academy garb, Byleth saw Hilda and Marianne just turning the corner coming from the dining hall and waved at them. 

“Good morning girls,” Byleth said plainly. Hilda replied with a resounding, “Gooooooood morning Professor!” and Marianne with an oxymoronic, “G-good morning…” However, Hilda had more to say as well.

“Professor, was Claude coming out of your  _ quarters _ just now? In his  _ pajamas? _ What’s that all about  _ hm _ ?” Hilda gave an extremely sly smirk and awaited an explanation.

“Oh , well Claude had come to m-”

“Teach here, was helping me with some tactics questions last night, and I crashed in his room.” Claude chimed in extremely out of breath and now in proper academy day garb. Claude stared at Byleth with fear and begged with his eyes to follow along. 

“That is correct. Now, Claude and I are going to eat breakfast at the dining hall. I’ll see you tomorrow for classes Hilda, you too Marianne.” The pairs went their separate ways, but Byleth had to admit, he felt a bit down. Why did Claude want to keep their newfound affection a secret? Was it a pain to be associated with him? Claude still looked happy to be around him, but wanted to hide any kind of hint that they were...what were they anyway? Goddess help him.

\---------------------------------

After eating themselves full, Byleth and Claude went to the courtyard to have tea and ease their stomachs. Byleth prepared Claude’s favorite tea which he picked up while in the marketplace the other day, Almyran Pine Needles. Byleth didn’t care for the gentle taste, but Claude could drink an entire pot. While pouring each of them a cup, Byleth had never realized how much he enjoyed spending time with Claude. His face always sporting a smile and gentle eyes, always so... amazing. Being the house leader and the professor, they were known to be closer because of their titles, but since last night, there was now something more that Byleth wanted to explore.

“So,” sipping his tea gently, “what **are** we now?” Byleth stated bluntly. Choking for a second on his tea, Claude set it down and replied, 

“What do you mean Teach? Are we what?” Claude feigned a smile and his eyes darted around to the surrounding tables in the courtyard. 

“Are we… dating?” Claude crimsoned immediately and got up.

“E-excuse me Teach, I have to go. Thanks for the tea.” Claude walked away swiftly and Byleth was left in confusion. Had the goddess damned him? What had he done? Why... He **had **to get to the bottom of it.


	3. Thawing Ice

Claude had escaped to his quarters to regain his wits. He felt a numb buzzing in the back of his head and heat building through his body. Why did Byleth discuss it so casually? He couldn’t bare to think of what the other students might think if the house leader and professor were closer than they appeared. He didn’t want to be treated like an outsider again, despite there being plenty of same sex couples living in the monastery. Claude knew this wasn’t the same. He needed to _know_ Byleth, know who he was, and how he lived life. They’d only known each other for a few months and their only interactions were casual classroom banter and tactics meetings for missions. Claude didn’t love Byleth, not yet at least. He just craved Byleth’s touch and the way he felt. They needed to talk about this, but in confidence.

Opening his door to go back outside, Claude bumped into Byleth. His fist was raised, ready to knock on Claude’s door. “Oh, Claude. Are you alright? You left so suddenly.”

“Teach, I.. please, just come in.” Byleth had entered the room and closed the door. They remained standing. 

“Teach… no,  _ Byleth _ , we need to discuss us.” Byleth looked at him confusedly.

“I was trying to talk about this with you before you-”

“I  _ left _ because I didn’t want to speak about it where people could hear. We can’t just discuss this out in the open.” 

“Claude, I just want to be with you. Be there for you. Last night, you did something to me no one else has, and I can’t let it go. I want you..no, I need you.” Byleth stared Claude down with rememberable eyes. Byleth advanced closer to him. “I need you in my life Claude.” Claude wanted to say the words back, he really, truly did. 

“I..” he turned away slightly and lowered his eyes, “I’m not ready for something like that. I need more time, I need to -” he was cut off by Byleth’s hand in his. He looked up with glassy eyes to meet a gentle smile. Eyes made of blades cut through Claude’s speech and rendered him motionless. Ice must’ve flowed through the professor’s veins for the coolness of his hand brought Claude to reality. His ribcage was collapsing in and his heart was as aflame as Aillel. 

“It’s alright, you don’t need to say anymore,” embracing Claude in a hug, “we can work through this together. I’ll wait forever for you to love me if you’d let me.” Claude returned his embrace and simply put his head on Byleth’s shoulder.

“Do you still wanna go out for tea?”

“That’d be great.” 

  
  


\-------------------------------------------

  
  
  


Much time passed since their talk, and Byleth and Claude returned to their normal routine of classes. Claude liked to sneak winks or long glances at Byleth around the monastery to increase the “sneaky factor” of their courting. Byleth, of course, responded to such displays with an icy face tinted with pink. Week after week, they continued the tradition of tea on Saturdays to talk and learn about one another, and as per Claude’s request, they kept personal matters to themselves until they were alone. While they were alone, they talked of favorite personality traits, likable people in the monastery, and the kinds of things you’d expect a courting couple to discuss. 

Their souls seemed to intertwine as time went by, each falling for the other more while days blurred into months. Soon enough, it was the Ethereal Moon and the White Heron Cup, as was the ball, were upon them. Over tea on the seventh day, Byleth brought something up,

“So, Claude. The White Heron Cup is coming up,” while pouring them cups of Sweet Apple Blend tea, “And the archbishop asked me to choose a representative for our house.” Byleth had half a mind to ask Claude right then to be the representative, but he wanted to see Claude’s reaction.

“Who were you thinking about picking? I hear Raphael is as graceful as a wyvern without wings,” Claude’s usual banter didn’t upset. Byleth couldn’t help but grin. “Or if you wanted us to actually have a chance, you could pick Lorenz.”

“How about you then Claude? You’ve always been on the artsy and creative side, I figured you might like the chance to dance for everyone. Also, I have to give dance lessons to the representative as well.” Byleth sipped his tea triumphantly and awaited a response from Claude.

“Oh Teach I’d never pass up an opportunity to dance,” Claude, now much more comfortable with Byleth, decided to drip his words in honey, “and learning from such a qualified instructor, I’d love to.” Byleth felt his heart melt at the sound of his voice, and he almost felt a heartbeat. 

Finishing his last sip of tea Byleth responds, “Good. I’ll report that you’ll be our representative to Lady Rhea later this afternoon. Dance practice is after classes in the courtyard tomorrow. If you have any questions,  _ you know where to find me _ .” Byleth stood, and left the tea table to head back to his quarters. He hoped he returned Claude’s flirtatiousness in full with his last few words. Tomorrow though, he wondered if then was a good time for  _ it _ .


End file.
